Eco-Hub

A qualified bike mechanic will be present at the hub to fix bicycles and provide advice on maintenance. More information can be found on the Marston Eco Group Facebook page.

We are collecting donations of toiletries that will be given to local families in need. We welcome donations of any toiletries that are new. We are working in partnership with St Nicholas School and the schools link worker. A number of families have been struggling as a result of the pandemic, being unable to afford a number of basic items. The initiative of the blessing boxes alongside the the food bank and food larder is to help those most in need within our community. You can download our poster to find out more:

Blessing Boxes

We now have a book swap shop at the SESI refill station.

Our first Eco Market was held on Sunday 18th July 2021 and our next event will take place on 19th September 2021. You can download the poster for the September 2021 market here. We hope to make this a regular event after approximately 150 people attended our first event and many local groups took part. More details of future events will be published when available but we expect them to take place in May, July and September each year.

We collect items for the Oxford Food Bank. Please put your donation in the box outside Marston Vicarage Refill Station (OX3 0PR)

All tins & packets of food are welcome but the following items are needed the most:

1. Tins Vegetables (not tomatoes or pulses)
2. Tins, Packets of Puddings
3. Sugar
4. Jams/other spreads 
5. Tins Meat, Tins Fruit
6. Cereal, Biscuits
7. Bottled Sauces
8. Coffee/Hot Chocolate
9. Practical Toiletries

Items 1, 2 and 3 are the most needed.

When donating food please ensure that items have a ‘sell by date’ of at least 3 months and is clearly marked.

Please support the Oxford Community Emergency Foodbank.   http://www.cefoxford.co.uk/

THANK YOU

The Giving Garage ws set up by and is maintained by Marston Community Gardens. Various items, particularly gardening tools,  have been donated by members of the community and can be borrowed free of charge by local residents.

Marston Community Gardens is based at the Eco-Hub and runs various projects in Marston:

1 Giving Garden
2 SESI Refill Station
3 Community Chickens
4 Forest Garden
5 Community Allotments
6 Boults Lane Sports Meadow
7 Mortimer Payground Wildflowers
8 Orchard Triangle
9 Wildflower Meadow
10 Sharing shed
11 Community E-Car Club
12 New Marston Community Wood
13 New Marston Community Orchard
14 New Marston Primary School Copse
15 Court Place Farm Community Wood

You can find out more:

Website: Marston Community Gardening – A planet-friendly community group based in Marston, Oxford, UK (wordpress.com)

Facebook: Marston Community Gardening | Facebook

Twitter: MarstonCommunityGardening (@MarstonCommuni1) / Twitter

Email: hello@marstoncommunitygardening.org.uk

Download: map of projects

Small groups of local residents will get together to litter pick in different parts of Old Marston and New Marston and also in conjunction with the OxClean event. Contact Marston Community Gardens for more information.

As we are a non-profit community group, prices are low and this service is for the Marston community! There are other refill shops at other locations within Oxford. You can pay either by cash or by cheque (made payable to Marston Community Gardening). Please place cash or cheques into the money box that it fixed to the wall (which is emptied regularly), or contact us for our bank transfer details. 

Current prices:

• Washing up liquid: £1.50/L – (15p/100 ml)
• Bio laundry liquid: £2.50/L – (25p/100ml)
• Non-bio laundry liquid: £2.00/L – (20p/100ml)
• Hand soap: £3.50/L – (35p/100 ml)
• All purpose surface cleaner: £2.00/L – (20p/100ml)

We have bio and non-bio laundry liquids (on the right) and hand soap (rose), washing up liquid (ginger) and all-purpose surface cleaner (on the left). We will provide some cloths in case of spillage, and some empty bottles in case you need to take one. Please limit yourself to 1 litre per product, or 2 litres maximum, so that there is enough to go around. We do not have extra tubs so we will order more when needed.

The Refill Station opened in October 2020 at the MCG Hub, behind the Giving Garage. It is stocked with a range of biodegradable, vegan, cruelty-free detergents from local Oxfordshire company, SESI. The aim is to reduce local plastic use by allowing people to affordably refill their own bottles with these every day products.

Refills will generally operate on an unattended, self-service basis (all days of the week, during daytime hours only please), at an outdoor space on the vicarage property. We rely on you to pay what is owed, to keep the area tidy, and to only share information about the service to other Marston residents who may be interested.

Bring clean, empty bottles with you, marked with how many millilitres they hold. Choose your product dispenser, open your bottle and place it on the stand, and adjust the height as needed to be closer to the outlet. Turn the black handle so the outlet faces down into your bottle. Then start pumping the red handle at the top slowly to fill your bottle: it fills both as you pull up and push down.

Go especially slowly with the all-purpose cleaner as it tends to froth a bit when refilling! Observe the speed of filling and try to adjust your pumping so that the red handle is down when you finish filling. Put the lid securely on your bottle and return the dispenser’s black handle to a downward position so the detergent won’t drip out of the spout. Wipe up any spills/dry hands with towels provided.

Help yourself to the correct product label for your bottle from the yellow folder the first time you fill the bottle. Put your filled bottles into a plastic bag (please bring your own) to avoid spillage on your way home. Calculate what you owe and make payment. Thank you! 

P.S. If you want to use the service but feel you will need assistance, contact us and we’ll make arrangements for one of us to help.

For more information about the products please visit the Sesi website: https://sesi.org.uk/refills/ethical-product-contents